Welcome to Scree, the news page for Smoke Hole Canyon

Scree; bits and pieces that gather around the cliff, slowly spreading across the face of the mountain, toward the valleys below.

This will be the page where you will find news of NFS activities, climbing events, trail work and clean-up schedules and, as my first post, thanks to the pledges and supporters of our recent Kickstarter project, who successfully raised the money to publish a guidebook to the canyon which will, Lord willin', be available to the public in time for the holidays.

This guidebook could never have been written without the incredible contributions of so many generations of climbers, dreamers and explorers, the support of the climbing and Kickstarter community or the encouragement of the incredible group that I call friends. If you do not see a name, it is through no failure on the part of that person, but of my own memory. For any such omissions I must deeply apologize in advance.

This has taken a lot of love and support behind the scenes, from the first routes in the canyon all those years ago, through years of ascents and bivvy sites, jugging and chasing tenuous hooks, rapping and cleaning and building trail when the weather turned, the inception of the guidebook and the gathering of old notes and photos, sorting data, chasing names and grades, accepting that no one can write the perfect guide and trying to write the best guide that I could.

It all began six years ago in the basement of an old church in the heart of Smoke Hole Canyon, and there are a number of folks I must thank for help and belief, input and criticism along the way.

Citation for Dedication Above and Beyond the Call of Duty goes to Michael Fisher, aka Doc Goodwack, single-handedly responsible for some of the finest hard technical and beautiful bold routes in this guidebook. At Cave Mountain and The Fortress, he was the first in and up the walls with the only routes to date. At The Darkside or Long Branch, Sunshine and Ninjas Walls, Reed’s Creek and Franklin, he created hard lines and instant classics.

Anyone who climbs in and around Smoke Hole Canyon owes Mike a big vote of thanks for years of trail work, ground-up ascents, friendly, accurate beta and grueling hours of route-setting in full conditions; a man who stuck to his ethical guns, lives and climbs according to his own inner compass, and has pushed the envelope of traditional and aid ascents in the region since the earliest days of our acquaintance.

He also happens to be one of the finest carpenters on the East Coast, a hardworking homebuilder who kick-started me when motivation was low, and graciously stepped aside when he could easily have red pointed any of the lines we have developed together. Without Mike Fisher, I would not have learned half the things I know nor could I have achieved half of what I’ve done on the cliffs and trails… or had half as much fun doing them.

Brian Brydges came out of nowhere, literally, to dive right into the heart of realizing this guidebook. A former Franklin climber who had once or twice investigated Smoke Hole back in the 90s, Brian had gone on to a successful career, marriage and family. Coming back to climbing two decades later, with an eye toward sharing his love of this activity with his wife and children, he found my name through the magic of the Internet and has been a source of support, inspiration, and infectious enthusiasm for the guide, trail work, and renovation of the aging anchors and bolts since our first conversation. What you hold in your hands is as much his work as mine.

Thanks, Brian.

For stepping up to the plate with hard work and money out of pocket on both trails and new lines, every climber who walks through Franklin and Reed’s Creek also owes a vote of thanks (and maybe a cold beer) to Ryan Eubank and the NoVA/MD Company. This old climber thanks them each and every one from the bottom of his heart, most certainly The Renovator himself, for proving there are still climbers coming from this age of social gymnasts, and for once again setting a big cornerstone of the dream.

Eternal IOUs to Brian Dziekonski for jumping off when you didn’t have to, Franklin landscape engineering and trail work, perspective and support, proofreading, encouragement, a space to finish the bulk of this project, and an intro to central Colorado’s vast playground of rock, as well as an early and generous pledge to our Kickstarter project.

To John and Bernadette Burcham (and Dom and Beckett); thanks from a couple of rock gypsies. Ed and Tracy Begoon, for showing me where it all was in the first place, guiding me to gear and routes that wouldn’t kill me; teaching me the art of running a chainsaw in a tree and giving me, from time to time, roof, meal, bed, and fresh coffee.

For transforming the trails of Franklin and Reed’s Creek, my deepest thanks to Jamie Struck and all of the amazing Spring Break Trail Daze volunteers from Lyndon State College.

Thanks to “Pyro” Pat Frank for service to his country, gear and belays, in-country pick-ups and shuttles, Speyburn, winter treks and realized dreams.

There are not enough words to express my gratitude to the private landowners of Franklin Gorge, Eagle Rocks, and Smoke Hole. Your continued willingness to allow the public access to your lands has given me years of delight, and continues to introduce new generations to a deeper appreciation of West Virginia’s land and her people.

Thanks to all the Trail Daze volunteers, as well as to the Access Fund’s Brady Robinson, the Reed‘s Creek Send-a-thon Crews, “Macdaddy” Mike and Deb Stewart, Randy LaForce and the PA Crue.

Thank you to Matt Behrens and Mike Farnsworth for the accurate beta on the River’s Bend at Franklin, and for the incredible work you’ve both done toward the future of climbing in Smoke Hole and West Virginia.

Special thanks to Connie Magee, for great conversations, tireless fundraising and Tex-wrangling. Connie ran down funding for our Kickstarter project with the same grace, humor and determination she shows on rock. We could not have done it without you, lass.

Thanks to the Daily Grind (check out their videos and music on YouTube), Maxim Ropes, Metolius, Fixe, for supporting the publication of this guide and thank-you to all those folks, as well as the New River Alliance of Climbers’ Gene Kistler and Jay Jung, for supporting the Potomac Highland Anchor Replacement/Upgrade Program.

Thanks to the Kickstarters:

Takuto Lehr

Kirby

Matt Behrens

Chris OC

Dallas Branum

Dan Rodrigez

Classic Craig Spaulding

Tony Canike

Mitchell Babarovich

Ryan Nelling

Ted Fogarty

Allan Ange

Sheperd

James Garner

Brandon Dorman

Thomas Shifflett

Sofia Brycock

David A. Cohen

Johnathan Wachtel

Ex Pow-anpongkul

Jackson Crane

Aaron Ray

Greg Sudlow

David Lysy

Steve Jones

Kristan Markey

Stephanie Jesteadt

Michelle Bercovici

Sherry Erickson

Brooke Decker

Katie Hammer

Scott T Olson

Corey Shaw

Mary Lisa Sheperd

Donovan Sweet

Christopher Sweet

David Raines

Chuck Moses

Chazz Ott

Ronnie Stadtfeld

Johannes Reisert

Corey Vezina

Aaron Moses

Adam Byrd

Rick Dotson

Manny Rangel

Michael and Liz

Jeannette Helfrich

Robert Abramowitz

David Mitchell

Mark O’Neal

Mark Fletcher

Tommy Cockerell

Mike Mallow

John Gathright

Stephanie Huxter

Peter Jensen

Lorick Fox

Cedrick Capiaux

Brent Goddard

George Lewis

Samuel Taggart

John

Ryan Fishel

John Burkhart

Kuranes

Kristin Andersen

Big Wall Voltaire Valle

Sam Tradman Taylor

Indy

Good Man Jude Kalet

Stephen Haase

Cap’n Betty Welch

Jeff Koelmay

Pyro Pat Frank

Charles Green

Rachel Wills

Rocky Top

Jeremy Fox

Jon Alexander

Lester

Milas Robertson

Jackson Goss,

Eric Seme

Doug Smith

Jeff Baxter

Dennis Coyle

Jerry Stankunas

Josiah Weeks

Hung LY

Andrew Dotson

Ian Nathan

David Riggs

David Ciesla

Jennifer O’Brien

Frank Velez

Paul Sullivan

Eric Mayl

Jonnie Thompson

Henry Barkhausen

Garth Delinger

Joe Coover

The band The Daily Grind

Alexander T. Hypes

Michael Greene

Joe Thompson

Anliko Lowman

Jason Bethke

Adam Johnson

Keith Fegler

local climber Don Blume

Douglas D. Smith

Pat Light

John Harman

Nicholas

Dave and Liz Farnsworth

Sigmund Young

Scott Ransom

Tim C

Phil Lutz

Joshua McVeigh

Zachary Stone

Mark Veeman

Mark Folsom

Ted Plasse,

Morgan Falls

Danny Rowand

Amy Hazam

John Huber

Eduardo Ramirez

Ethan Atwood

Gabi Benel

James

Andrew Johnson

Todd Sleeman

Tom Georgevits

Kelly Shipp

Ori

Paul Meehan

Dr. Shulte-Ladbeck

David Turk

Climbamt

Josh

Matt Rockwell

Curtis Gale-Dryer

Thanks once again to my old friend Chris Riha, unsung hero of Smoke Hole climbing, to Mister Eric Horst for his kind support and to my Dad, Gilbert Gray for adding one last push to keep us rolling.

Of course, no list would be complete without my personal heroine, the gal who won my heart, Cindy Gray. Despite three back surgeries, a stroke, multiple sclerosis, and degenerative disc disease, she has been a mother, firefighter, bakery cook, EMT, nurse’s aide, and Habitat for Humanity volunteer center hostess, as well as my own confidante, partner in climb, explorer, photographer and videographer, handler, foil, and friend.

Any woman who will follow you through heat and cold, over boulder fields and through green briars, spending hours on belay and building miles of trail, cooking a three course meal over a camp stove and proposing on Christmas Eve in front of a struggling campfire in a 17F wind chill snowstorm is a keeper, especially if she can also bake a pie.

Glad I was smart enough to realize that.

Good times and bad, fat times and thin, if you asked me today, I’d do it all over again.

Thank you, Miss Pink Pants.

Climb on.

MG

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